by Clayton M. Christensen and Michael B. Horn, Washington Post
This year’s math classes for many students in the Los Altos School District in California look radically different from those in the past. Powered in part by the Khan Academy—a non-profit that offers free educational resources such as online lessons and online assessments—the school district is expanding the “blended-learning” pilot it ran last year. The district’s fifth, sixth and seventh graders learn online for a significant portion of their in-class math periods at the path and pace that fit their individual needs. Meanwhile, teachers will coach the students to keep up with their math goals and help them apply the math concepts in small-group and class-wide projects. Online learning isn’t just grabbing the imagination of educators in Silicon Valley. In the nation’s capital, D.C. Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson has expressed interest in bringing one of the more successful blended-learning school models, Rocketship Education, to the district. And in Florida, entering ninth graders will now have to complete at least one online course during high school in order to graduate.
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